Staff Correspondent

Over the past 15 and a half years, the Hasina government has severely damaged the country's economy, eroding democracy, human rights, and trade. Through reckless mismanagement, it has squandered taxpayers' money—earned through the hard work of 180 million people—while enriching itself under the pretense of development projects.

Grand claims were made that the economy would grow, large domestic and foreign investments would come in, industries would be established, and employment opportunities would increase. These promises were used to justify megaprojects like the Padma Bridge, Metro Rail, Karnaphuli Tunnel, and Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. However, in reality, manipulated data was used to inflate figures and present an exaggerated image of the economy.

In truth, much of it is misleading. What actually happened was rampant corruption—the banking sector, financial institutions, corporate governance, and ultimately the economy were systematically destroyed.

This reality has been reflected in the Economic Census 2024 report by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The preliminary findings of this census will be officially released today, Wednesday. The event will be held at the Statistics Building, with the government's planning adviser, Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud attending as the chief guest.

According to BBS data, in the fiscal year 2012-13, the total production value of the manufacturing sector was Tk 1,97,127 crore. The latest figures show that by the last fiscal year, this had increased to approximately Tk 11,32,735 crore—an increase of about 5.75 times in 11 years. During this period, the government reported an average annual growth of over 14%.

Notably, even in the 2019-20 fiscal year—when GDP collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic—the government claimed that the manufacturing sector grew by more than 4%. Additionally, double-digit growth was reported in the manufacturing sector every year, with some years showing up to 18% growth. The Hasina government also claims that the contribution of the manufacturing sector to total GDP has risen from 17.27% to 23.19% over this period.

However, the GDP growth figures for the industrial sector—driven by the manufacturing sector—do not align with the preliminary results of the BBS-conducted Economic Census 2024.

The newly released preliminary data from the Economic Census indicates that in the past 11 years, the number of economic units (business establishments) in the manufacturing sector has grown by only 15.39%. In contrast, between 2001 and 2003, the number of economic units in this sector grew by 100.42%, as per the 2013 census.

The report further highlights a decline in overall economic unit growth in the country. It states that in 2024, the total number of economic units in the country stands at 11,877,364—up from 7,818,565 in 2013. This means that in 11 years, the number of economic units increased by 4,058,799 (or 51.91%). In contrast, the 2013 survey found that economic units had increased by 4,110,421 from 2003, marking a 110.85% rise.

The report also reveals that due to the relatively low growth in manufacturing sector establishments, the sector's share of total economic units has dropped to 8.77%. In 2003, the manufacturing sector contributed 12.14% of total economic units, which fell to 11.54% in 2013. This means that for two consecutive censuses, the contribution of manufacturing sector establishments has declined.

Meanwhile, the number of service sector establishments has grown from 6,915,982 to 10,835,896 over the past 11 years—a 56.68% increase, according to BBS. As a result, the service sector's share of total establishments has risen from 88.86% to 91.23%.

When asked about this trend, SM Shakil Akhter, Director of the Economic Census Project, stated that large industrial factories have hardly been established in the past 10 years. While the manufacturing sector has not expanded significantly, the number of small enterprises has increased. This indicates that economic progress has not been achieved.

Commenting on the findings, Khandaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director at the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said that the growth in economic units alongside GDP size is a positive sign. However, ideally, the country should see industrial expansion, with small companies growing into medium-sized firms and medium-sized companies becoming large enterprises. Unfortunately, industrial growth has not kept pace with economic expansion, which is not aligned with economic progress. The lack of industrialization despite economic growth highlights structural weaknesses in government policies. He emphasized the need for policy reforms to address this issue.